Arguably, the first two games of the day for the Northern Chill TLS (14U) Frost may have been their toughest as the local lads captured gold at Laurentian University on Saturday, hosting the OVA Challenge Cup – Trillium C tournament in Sudbury.

Ranked 6th entering the nine team competition, the Frost went the distance in morning pool play, taking down both the Venom Chaos from Richmond Hill (25-18, 18-25, 17-15) and the Caspian Knights from Newmarket (22-25, 25-21, 15-13) in three set battles.

A favourable quarter-final matchup saw the Frost sweep past Pakmen Black (Mississauga), 25-15, 25-10, ensuring the team would be playing for a medal. The gold and silver came into play when the Chill crew bounced Skopos Dynamis (Markham) in emphatic fashion, 25-15, 25-11.

No slowing down in the championship encounter as host club never allowed a single playoff opponent to reach the 20-point plateau, silencing the Vaughan Legends Heatwave 25-16, 25-10.

“Caleb Zakamarko was a force to be reckoned with, setting his team up for big kills (Isaac McKee had 28 kills and 10 blocks for the Chill), in addition to his usual stellar back-court defense,” noted Chill head coach Kevin McKee. “Rookie Simon McKechnie was very aggressive with both his serving and serve receive.”

Rounding out the gold medal roster are Jaxon Bignucolo, Reid Cayer, Caleb Coutu, Antonio Sonntag, Wyatt Legare, Keelan Mathur, Braydan Mathur, Lucas Moulaison and assistant coach Ashleigh Conley.

The Northern Chill TLS Frost next sees action on (Sunday) February 8th when McGregor Cup playdowns are staged right across the province.